


One Step Away

by lion_boy_13



Category: Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Winter Soldier (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Bucky Barnes-centric, Bucky is an idiot, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Romantic Soulmates, Running, Sam Wilson is a Gift, Soulmate-Identifying Timers, The Author Regrets Nothing, This Is STUPID, these two don't have a brain cell between them, they're so fucking stupid
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-13 00:27:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29767917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lion_boy_13/pseuds/lion_boy_13
Summary: People are born with a timer telling them how many steps they have to walk until they meet their soulmate.Bucky and Sam both run in roughly the same place every day. They never meet, until one day they do.What will they do when they both realise they let their soulmate run away from them?
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Sam Wilson
Comments: 5
Kudos: 25





	1. Running Wild

Bucky hated himself for decided to go for a run. It was the last thing he wanted to do, but for some reason, he decided that it would be a good fucking idea. First of all, a run is never, ever a good idea. Secondly, a run in the middle of January is torture. Literal fucking torture. His therapist's words ran through Bucky's head. "You need to get out of the house more," she'd told him. "Find a hobby, maybe get some exercise." It wasn't bad advice, in fact it was very sensible. The problem was that Bucky had decided that he'd combine all three nuggets of advice into one. So he decided to start running. For fun. Like an idiot. The main issue came when Bucky decided that, because of his arm, he would run in the morning. This meant that he could wear a jacket and that less people would see him and therefore his arm. The downside was that he had to drag himself out of bed at the ass crack of dawn in order to actual have time to do all the other stuff he had to do. So as Bucky staggered around his tiny apartment trying to find his running shoes, he cursed his therapist for giving him such stupid advice and himself for actually taking it.

Bucky wanted nothing more to be able to go back to his therapist and tell her that her ideas were stupid. It would've filled him with great joy. Except for the fact that it wasn't true. Going for a run, even at such a stupid fucking time in the morning, had actually helped. He felt better! He didn't feel so helpless and alone. He felt less anxious and the world felt less out of control. For the first time in literal months, Bucky felt like maybe, just maybe, he could work through all of his shit and have a somewhat decent life. He wasn't sure exactly why he found going for a run so helpful. Maybe it was nice to take in the scenery of his hometown for a while. Maybe there was something relaxing about the pounding sensation of his feet against the ground. Maybe it had something to do with exercise endorphins. Maybe it was just because he got to see some really cute dogs while he was running in the park. Whatever it was, it worked. So no matter how stupid it was, getting up at 6am just to go for a run, Bucky was sure as hell going to carry on doing it.

It took a while, but eventually, Bucky found a running route that he liked. It combined some of his favourite places, like the park where lots of cute dogs go in the mornings, the older part of town where the buildings look like they were handmade by some sort of God, the hill that overlooks the whole town and lights up early in the morning and late at night. Not to mention the fact that Bucky's favourite coffee shop was on his way home, so he never needed an excuse to pop in for a coffee and a bite to eat. Before long, Bucky was actually starting to get excited about his early morning runs. That should have been a sign that he was going clinically insane, but it was the opposite. His twice weekly visits to see his therapist turned into weekly visits, then monthly visits. He started volunteering at a local animal shelter part time. He looked forward to getting up in the morning. Everything in Bucky's life was starting to look up. Everything apart from one teeny tiny thing. His soulmate.

Bucky had always wondered who his soulmate would be. As a child, he dreamt of falling in love and marrying his soulmate. She would have dark brown hair and the most beautiful eyes and they'd be the perfect couple. That was how it was supposed to be. As he got older, Bucky realised that his soulmate wouldn't necessarily be the person they were supposed to be. He wouldn't be marrying a woman and having lots of children. He wanted to marry a man. For a while, as a teenager he hoped he'd found his soulmate and that the counter had made a mistake, but they just weren't meant to be. Then Bucky joined the army and became preoccupied by more important things than true love. When he got caught in an explosion and lost his arm, he thought he'd never find his soulmate. He believed that nobody could possibly love him when he was as damaged as he was. Not only was his body broken, but his mind was too. But when he started running and began to feel better, he found hope. He realised that if he could learn to love himself, then someone else might too. Unfortunately for Bucky, his step counter had always been ridiculously high. That was one thing that hadn't changed that much over the years.

Every morning, before he went for a run, Bucky would glance at the numbers on his wrist. They were always so high. He imagined it would take him years to meet his soulmate. 3 million steps was a lot. He couldn't even imagine how long it would take. It was only when Bucky started paying attention to his step counter after his runs that he realised how quickly it was going down. He realised that maybe it wouldn't take so long to meet his soulmate after all. Despite trying to persuade himself that it was a fucking waste of time, Bucky began to wonder where he'd meet his soulmate. Maybe at the animal shelter or at the park with the dogs. Or maybe at his favourite coffee shop. Or maybe it would be somewhere totally fucking random like on a bus or in a random shop somewhere. Either way, Bucky couldn't wait to meet the person he was destined to spend the rest of his life with.


	2. Marathon of Love

Sam had always had a reputation for being the sensible one. He'd acquired it while he was at university. His roommates would go out drinking and come home shitfaced and he'd stay in making sure they were okay when they got back. His friends, while lovable, did not have two brain cells to rub together, so Sam was usually the one that stopped them from making stupid decisions and getting themselves killed. Sam was supposed to be sensible! So why the fuck did he decide to run a fucking marathon? Sure, maybe Steve had peer pressured him just a little bit. Sure, maybe it was for a good cause. Sure, the kids would love to see him dress up. But there was one teeny tiny issue that Sam had apparently overlooked when he agreed to the damn thing. He couldn't run for one mile without nearly dying, let alone twenty fucking six! He obviously hadn't been thinking clearly when he agreed to something so monumentally stupid. Sam mentally cursed himself for being such a moron. He reminded himself that he was supposed to be the sensible one and if he died doing fucking cardio then Steve would simply fail to function. He'd have to fix his mistake as soon as he could.

Unfortunately for Sam, some deity really wanted to watch him a run a marathon dressed up as an obscure superhero. When he approached Steve to bargain (and possibly even beg) his way out of the mess he'd gotten himself into, Steve broke the news that he'd already sent off their applications, so it was too late to back out. Clearly Sam's face said everything as Steve laughed and invited Sam to train with him, while Sam was debating various different ways of avoiding exercise. Technically, he thought to himself, if he died then they couldn't make him do it. He'd be dead, it'd be a bit weird. Ultimately, the only reason he agreed to keep his promise was the fact that both he and Steve were doing it to raise money for a charity. They both volunteered at a local children's hospital. They dressed up and played games with the kids to keep their spirits up. Running the marathon to provide the hospital with some extra funds had been Steve's idea. When Sam thought of those poor kids, he knew he had to run with Steve, no matter how much he hated cardio. And he really, really hated cardio.

Sam assumed that his biggest mistake would've been agreeing to run a marathon in the first place, but he couldn't have been more wrong. His biggest mistake by far was agreeing to train with Steve. Sam had always known that Steve was more athletic than he was. He was built like a Greek God for fuck's sake! He went to the gym almost every day and he actually enjoyed working out. Not to mention the fact that he looked rather good doing it. Meanwhile, Sam hadn't set foot in a gym for over a year and he avoided cardio wherever possible. It was his nemesis, quite literally. In hindsight, a marathon was really not the best way to get back into working out. But nonetheless, Sam decided to go for a run with Steve. He regretted it almost instantly. They were running laps around a local park, or at least Steve was. Sam was just desperately trying to keep up. Steve was lapping him at every available opportunity and teasing him as he ran past. Eventually, Sam just gave up and sat down to watch Steve run. He knew he'd have to start doing this kind of thing regularly, but there was no way in hell he was doing it with Steve. Not unless he wanted to be publicly humiliated.

Every couple of days, Sam would finish work a little bit earlier and go for a run around one of the larger parks in the area. As the days went by, Sam noticed that he was actually starting to look forward to going for runs. It was becoming mildly enjoyable. Not too much, just a little. He wasn't going crazy or anything. Not only that, but the actual running was getting easier too. Sam wasn't getting out of breath as easily anymore and he could run a lot further. He wasn't quite ready to train with Steve, but he didn't think he was too far behind. Then again, maybe that was just Sam being overly optimistic. But the more Sam ran, the more he started looking forward to running the stupid marathon. Maybe it would actually be fun. After all, he would be running with his best friend, dressed up as his favourite superhero. Maybe once he'd run his first marathon, he would sign up for another one. There were endless possibilities now that Sam actually enjoyed going for a run.

Another major difference that Sam noticed since he started running was that his step counter decreased so much more than it had ever done before. It had always been quite high, so he assumed he'd meet his soulmate later in life, but now he was running more and more often and running further every time, the counter was dropping quite rapidly. Sam would even go as far to assume that he'd meet his soulmate before his next birthday. That led to Sam daydreaming as he ran, thinking about how he'd meet his soulmate and who they'd be. Maybe they were a runner too and they'd meet at the marathon. Sam secretly hoped that their first ever meeting wouldn't involve Sam being dressed up like a silly comic book character that nobody had ever heard of. Or maybe they'd bump into each other at the park one day while Sam was training. Maybe they'd start a new job in the same building that Sam worked in and they'd meet in a meeting or in the elevator. Or maybe they'd meet somewhere strange like on the train or at the post office or in some random shop on the high street. Sam really just hoped that they'd meet soon and that they clicked.


End file.
